Sorry this was posted a bit late, I had a lot of exams last week so I was catching up on work and didn't get a chance to proofread/edit last night.


"No one," I said curtly, "Can you deal me in for the next round, Lorcan?"

"Yes, I've just got to beat your cousin first."

Hugo snorted, "Fat chance of that happening."


Chapter 4: The Sorting and the Sister

Maddie, Carla, and I groaned collectively as Hugo won each consecutive game of Exploding Snap. Persephone and Edith had thankfully realized that Albus wasn't going to show up and had left. Nisha was curled up in Lysander's lap, and both of them had fallen asleep. Lorcan had left about twenty minutes ago to attend to his duties in the Prefects' compartment, self-consciously adjusting the silver badge on his robes as we waved him off.

The train slowed to a stop and Lysander's eyes fluttered open. His blue-and-bronze tie had come undone.

"Eh- where are we?"

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. The train's stopped."

Lysander blushed and stuttered, bashfully handing me Nisha.

"Merlin, that cat can sleep," Hugo muttered, "You baby her too much, Lil. She needs to go catch mice or something one of these days."

"Stop bickering and let's go find a carriage," said Carla sensibly, striding out of the compartment, her black curls bouncing with each step.


Lorcan and Lysander waved at us as they headed over to the Ravenclaw table, and Maddie joined the first-years to be Sorted. James had already arrived. He was sitting up by the professors' table and whispering something to Headmistress McGonagall that made her frown. He winked at me as he saw us file into the Great Hall. I glanced over to the Slytherin table, where Albus stood with Malfoy discussing something in hushed tones. I wondered what they could possibly be gossiping about already.

The Great Hall was filled with a kaleidoscope of soft colors: delicate oranges, lavenders, and lilacs stained the ceiling, meaning the sun must have just set outside. As always, candles floated just below the false sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I love sunset in the Great Hall."

I followed Hugo and Carla to the Gryffindor table, where Persephone and Edith were holding court. Everyone who was surrounding them leaned in to hear the gossip, and I heard snatches of "Albus Potter" and "that sister of his, I don't know who she thinks she is."

"Let's not sit near Persephone?" suggested Carla.

"Let's not," I agreed gravely. I didn't think that I could handle them twice in one day. We instead selected a spot near the end of the table with Rose and her two closest friends; Annabel Wood and Camila Thomas, and the other Gryffindor prefect, Jamie McLaggen. The latter of whom was blathering on about how he was going to try out for Keeper now that James had graduated and how great he was going to be.

Still less annoying than Persephone, though.

Nearly Headless Nick floated through Hugo, making him shudder. The Gryffindor House ghost then turned to me, his head wobbling precariously on his enormous collar. He appeared to have dressed up for the Sorting ceremony this year.

"And now I suppose you're going to make fun of me for not being able to join the Headless Hunt yet again. I know, I know I'm pathetic and I wish I'd never been born or else it had been a nice clean swing. Woe is me-"

I barely held myself back from rolling my eyes. How irritating, and it's half James's fault he's so touchy about his head. "I'm not going to make fun of you, Nick-"

"Oh, but you will. You and your horrible brothers."

Inconsolable, Nearly Headless Nick floated morosely down the table.

"Looks like James really got to him over the years," Annabel remarked.

Professor Longbottom, who taught Herbology and was the Gryffindor Head of House, began to call the first-years' names.

Nick perked up instantly and began amusing himself by demonstrating to the new Gryffindors as they joined the table what nearly headless meant.

I had been absolutely terrified when I first saw Nick's botched beheading, after James had persuaded me to ask him how he got his name at my Sorting. He'd been in high spirits that day, partially because Albus had had to pay him five Galleons (Albus had bet that I wouldn't be Sorted into Gryffindor, and James had bet that I would). To this day, Albus still argued that I should have been in Slytherin with him.

"Lee, Madison."

"GRYFFINDOR!" shrieked the Hat the moment it touched Maddie's head. The entire table applauded and Hugo whooped as she came to join us, sliding in between him and Annabel.

"Malfoy, Aurelie."

Everyone turned to watch as Malfoy's sister walked towards the Sorting Hat. People began to whisper; clearly I wasn't the only one who was surprised to learn that there was another Malfoy.

We waited. One minute, then two, then three passed by. The Great Hall was completely silent, save for the occasional cough. Rose nudged me and covertly pointed to the Slytherin table. She mouthed, Look at Malfoy.

Unlike most, Malfoy looked neither confused or surprised. He looked more expectant if anything. What does he know that we don't? And more importantly, what is he expecting to happen? Maybe she's a Squib and that's why Astoria kept her locked up for so long.

Albus, unsurprisingly, looked bored and was cleaning his glasses with the edge of his sleeve. All of the professors had learned forward to watch; Professor Longbottom, who stood by Aurelie Malfoy, looked especially apprehensive. The Great Hall was completely silent.

Five minutes had passed. It was officially a hatstall.

Finally, the hat spoke.

"Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall remained in stunned silence as Aurelie Malfoy shyly stared at the floor and drifted slowly to the Gryffindor table. I stole another glance across the hall at Albus and Malfoy, the latter of whom still looked utterly unsurprised.

A Malfoy in Gryffindor? Maybe she's adopted? Would Astoria adopt a child?

Then, Albus and Malfoy stood up and began to clap, filling the otherwise silent hall. Shocked out of their stupor, the Gryffindor table managed to scrounge up some uncharacteristically polite, scattered applause.

"That was... strange," I whispered to Rose. The next first year was called to the hat.

"Hufflepuff!"

She whispered to me as the first-year (Matthews, Anthony) scampered to the Hufflepuff table, "Yes. And how Malfoy reacted was pretty bizarre."

"It's like he knew it was going to happen. Do you think he jinxed the hat or something?"

Rose wrinkled her nose, in deep thought as the next first-year was Sorted to Ravenclaw.

"I don't think so. That'd have to be a pretty complicated bit of magic. And why go to the trouble?"

"I saw them on the train together. I don't think Malfoy likes his sister."

Rose looked dubious, but dropped the topic and leaned over to whisper something to Camila.

Nearly Headless Nick floated back over to us as the Sorting came to an end. Needling the first-years had clearly raised his spirits.

"The password is fluxweed."

"Thanks, Nick!" Rose called after him as she and Jamie got up to corral the first-years.

Hugo regarded the first-years with a bemused sort of interest.

"D'you think we were really that small three years ago?"

"Of course," said Carla, laughing, "we just don't remember it. Come on, Maddie, we'll show you the Gryffindor Common Room."

"Don't forget the password," I added. "it changes every week, you'll see it on the noticeboard in the common room. Without it, the Fat Lady won't let you into the dorms and you'll end up spending a night outside if someone with the password doesn't come along."

Nearly Headless Nick reappeared, eyeing Maddie.

"You're rather large for a first-year," he said.

"Oh! I'm not a first year, um, sir. I'm a transfer student from Ilvermorny, I'm in the fourth year actually." She seemed a little bit apprehensive of Nick. Maybe they didn't have ghosts at Ilvermorny.

"I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington-"

"-but everyone calls him Nearly Headless Nick," Hugo interrupted in an informative tone which Rose and Aunt Hermione had been known to often adopt. Nick gave him an icy glare and continued with wounded dignity.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss?"

"Um, Maddie, sir. Madison Lee."

"And how are you finding Hogwarts?"

"It's very... different from Ilvermorny. It's so old and ... uh ... grand? It's very intimidating. Everything at Ilvermorny is so cosy and home-y, and going to school in castle feels very elitist and alien to me."

It was clear that Maddie did not completely approve of Hogwarts, and that monologue was her best effort of politeness.

I felt affronted on behalf of the school.

"I think Hogwarts is very cosy," I said hotly.

Carla smirked, "Yeah, if you can get over the dungeons, the Giant Squid and the giant, rotting basilisk corpse under the school."

"Oh, and the staircases like to move every once in a while," Nick added helpfully.

Maddie gulped. "Where are we going, again?"

"It's just up a few flights of stairs to the seventh floor; they're not that bad. You'll get used to them after a while."

My anticipation built as we climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room; I felt an excitement to be back at Hogwarts that I hadn't felt in the Great Hall or the train. Carla and Hugo walked the fastest, with Maddie fearfully clutching the banisters as she went.

"Welcome back, you three. Password?" asked the Fat Lady, amiably.

"Fluxweed," said Carla, and the portrait swung open to reveal the entrance to our common room. Hugo nodded at Maddie.

"After you."

I climbed inside the portrait hole after Maddie and Carla, and was instantly greeted by the familiar buzz of the common room.

Rose and Jamie McLaggen had already arrived with the first-years, and Jamie was explaining something to them very loudly. Rose looked to be at the limits of her patience.

I honestly would be too, if I was forced to spend time in Jamie's presence.


I decided to stay up after Carla, Maddie and Hugo had gone to bed and review my Potions textbook. I didn't want to be left behind in class or embarrass myself tomorrow, and I hadn't gotten to study as much as I would have liked over the summer.

Eventually, I left was alone in the common room. The only sound was the fire and my quill intermittently scratching the piece of parchment upon which I was taking my notes.

"Sorry?" I thought I heard a soft voice, but it could have been the fire crackling.

"Is someone there?"

Oh. Aurelie Malfoy.

The small girl crept out of the shadows.

I wondered how she'd managed to hide herself so well in a round room.

She looked even smaller than she had on the train or in the Great Hall. Aurelie looked tiny and scared, and she trembled as if there were a breeze in the common room, even though it was a bit on the warm side.

"You look cold," I said reflexively, looking up from my Potions textbook. "Come sit by the fire."

Aurelie tiptoed closer, still afraid.

"Come sit down with me. I don't bite. How long have you been standing in that corner?"

"I waited until everyone had left but you." Her voice was a delicate whisper, and I had to lean forward to catch the paper-thin words.

"Why would you do that? It's super late."

"You're Scorpius's best friend's sister, aren't you?"

"Yes." I set my Potions textbook aside to focus on her. "What's wrong?"

She finally sat down, melting partially into the shadows again.

Strange. She seemed to attract darkness.

I shook my head.

"I was wondering..."

"Go on."

"It's silly, I - could you braid my hair, like the way you have yours? I usually have mine braided too so my hair doesn't get so tangled, but I don't know how. My house-elves always did it for me."

Trust Astoria Malfoy not to teach the girl to take care of herself.

I noticed for the first time that she was clutching a small silver-backed brush.

"Sit down in front of me. I'll braid your hair."

For about the first time ever, I seriously wished I'd learned some of Albus's hair charms. Aurelie's hair was so fine, and so matted that the curls were near-impossible to separate.

"Aren't the other first-year girls speaking to you?" I asked without thinking. Wow, I've turned into Teddy. That's creepy. But why else would she linger in the common room to ask a stranger to braid her hair?

She shook her head slightly as I continued to untangle the curls.

I spoke to fill the uncomfortable silence.

"You know, Albus had trouble fitting into Slytherin when he was a first-year. We didn't know if he would pull through, he kept writing letters begging Mum and Dad to let him come home. He was absolutely miserable here for a long time."

I thought back for a minute, remembering. Albus hadn't been so different from Aurelie when he'd first started Hogwarts. I remembered the sobbing and sulking during the winter break, begging Mum and Dad to please let him go anywhere but back to Hogwarts, that he wanted to go back to the Muggle school where no one knew him as 'Harry Potter's Slytherin son.'

"But he didn't?" she asked.

"No. He met Mal- your brother. And that was that, pretty much. They've been inseparable ever since. What I mean Aurelie, is that you just need to find one person."

She turned to me and smiled, "I have."

I frowned without thinking about it. That's not what I meant.

I wasn't intending to baby-sit Malfoy's sister.


Apparently, my feelings on the matter were of no consequence. Aurelie trailed me to the Great Hall that morning, and I didn't have the heart to shoo her away to mingle with the other first-years.

Malfoy and Albus joined us at the Gryffindor table that morning for breakfast amid stares and giggles. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Persephone, Edith, and Bella edging closer to us; the only thing that kept them from making a beeline to Albus was Malfoy's presence. Carla, who had arrived first, was busy eating a muffin while pouring over a textbook. Hugo and Maddie still had yet to make their appearances.

Malfoy lifted his sister's braid appraisingly.

"Did She-Potter braid your hair? Looks decent for a change."

"Don't call me She-Potter!" I said, or at least tried to say through a mouthful of porridge. I swallowed it and cleared my throat.

"What are you doing here, He-Malfoy? Shouldn't you be holding court with the snakes?"

Malfoy smirked. "None of your business, She-Potter."

Albus peeked out over the Daily Prophet that he was reading and shielding himself with.

"It was my idea, actually."

"Yeah, right."

"Really. Next time you two can come over to hold court with the snakes."

"Very funny."

"Not funny, just consistent."

Rose appeared behind us, her hair in a messy bun, with a few red strands falling out to frame her face and her Prefect badge pinned haphazardly on her robes. She was carrying a stack of textbooks and she waved to a few first years who looked her way. She sat down next to me, also grabbing a bowl of porridge and flipping open her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World with a contented sigh. I pulled my schedule back out of my bag and grimaced. I really wish I'd studied over the summer. Now I'll spend the whole year cramming for my O.W.L.'s, which I'll obviously do absolutely horrible on. I wonder if I can scrape an Exceeds Expectations in Transfiguration and Potions? I'll definitely get a Troll in History of Magic, I just know it.

I made a face at my half-eaten porridge and glanced over at Aurelie, who was taking small, nervous bites of her toast. Malfoy looked at his sister.

"If you don't want the egg, I'll eat it."

I reached across Aurelie to smack him with my schedule. "Merlin, Malfoy! If she doesn't want the egg, she'll say. Just let her eat; what is wrong with you?"

Rose perked up, closing her book. "What are you doing here, Malfoy? Don't you have prefect duties; specifically, taking care of your first-years on their first day classes and setting a good example?"

"Hint, hint," said Albus behind his newspaper.

"Albus!"

"Don't look at me, Rosie, I'm not a prefect."

Malfoy stood up, glaring at Rose. "Coming, Al?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

As soon as Malfoy got up, Persephone, Bella, and Edith ambushed Albus as I had predicted.

"Hello, Albus!"

"How are you and how was your summer?"

"It's so lovely to see you!"

"We keep running into Lily but she never tells us where you are!"

Albus looked incredulous for a second. Then he neatly folded his newspaper, took a bite of his boiled egg, and turned to walk back to the Slytherin table, the three girls trailing after him. Good for him. Now maybe they'll stop bothering me about his whereabouts.


Thank you for reading!

XOXO your awkward queen (Chapter 5 will be out on Saturday, and we'll begin to get into the Hogwarts mystery!)